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Libraries conduct national search for new associate dean positions

July 25, 2014

Libraries conduct national search for new associate dean positions

Barbara I. Dewey, Penn State’s dean of University Libraries and Scholarly Communications, announces a national search is underway to fill three new associate dean positions in the Libraries. New leadership at Penn State is imparting fresh vision and strategic direction, and the University Libraries are launching a new strategic plan focused on three areas: discovery, access and preservation; teaching and learning; and advancing university research. The new associate deans, along with Librarian Lisa German, associate dean for collections information and access services, will help the Libraries advance the 21st-century research library for Penn State and the profession.

This position is expected to include providing leadership, strategic direction, and support for engineering, earth and mineral sciences, life sciences, physical and mathematical sciences, arts and humanities, education and behavioral sciences, social sciences, special collections, and business subject libraries and the Research Hub among other areas.

This position is expected to provide leadership and support for the Libraries’ IT and digital services (i-tech, media technology and support services, and publishing and curation services as well as cross-unit and cross-organizational teams, such as Digital Preservation Strategies Team, ScholarSphere Team among others.

This position is expected to provide leadership and support for all 20 Penn State Commonwealth Campus libraries, the Libraries’ teaching and learning services, undergraduate services including the Knowledge Commons at University Park and similar commons environments at the campuses, student engagement programs, the World Campus/Penn State Online, and the library assessment program.

Penn State, a land-grant institution, is an active member of the Committee on Institutional Cooperation, a consortium of the Big Ten universities plus the University of Chicago. The Libraries are a strategic asset to Penn State, advancing intellectual discovery, information literacy, and lifelong learning, all in support of the University’s strategic goals in teaching, research, service, and outreach.

Based on current Association for Research Libraries investment rankings, Penn State is among the top ten research libraries in North America. The Libraries have one of the most extensive online and print collections in the world including many locally digitized collections covering a wide range of subject areas. There were more than 9 million uses of the Libraries’ print and digital collections last year.

A Penn State student survey completed in 2010 found overall student satisfaction with the Libraries to be at the top of its category. Libraries’ faculty and staff have roles in the entire lifecycle of scholarship and research, from inception and creation to access and preservation. The largest public-mission library in the northeastern United States, the Libraries have with physical collections at each of Penn State’s 23 campuses found in all regions of the Commonwealth and serve approximately 6,000 faculty and 44,000 students at University Park, and approximately 97,000 students university wide.

For more information or for questions about the physical access provided, contact the University Libraries’ Department of Human Resources at 814-863-4949.